German Blitz force 1939-1940 – collecting and painting

Having managed to get a few games in the first half of 2019 I was quite keen to explore a Panzer Grenadier force. I really liked the idea of a smash and grab force in their mobile Hanomags (German half tracked troop transports). The DAK force I had started was parked. While I like the idea of a DAK force in gaming terms most of ours were set in a essentially western Europe terrain so it always felt a bit odd rolling out desert troops into Northern France.

Warlord games produce both an early and late war Panzer Grenadier force. So, after a bit of back and forth I settle on early war. Without access to some of the later weaponry they would present a slightly different challenge, but they had an early war charm about them, whereas later units seemed to be ‘grittier’ and suffering the ravages of war. Plus, they opened up the potential for some ‘Operation Sealion’ (the planned German invasion of Britain) scenarios.  The Panzer Grenadier force was changed to the Blitzkrieg starter army plus a hand full of trucks for much the same cost. There were a few reasons for this minor change detailed below.

Picture: Blitzkrieg Commanders discussing strategy

While it would look good to have everyone mounted in Hanomags (and there is no reason why they couldn't) I read somewhere that the main transports for Blitzkrieg were trucks, horses and on foot. Therefore, having a force full of Hanomags didn’t seem fully reflective of the majority of units in  the Blitzkrieg.

In addition a regular truck comes in at less than 40 points and adds a dice to the BA order bag, where a regular Hanomag (admittedly with forward and back MMG) will cost closer to 100 and both are susceptible to small arms fire.

I wanted at least 1 Hanomag to transport an elite assault company an with the general lack of AT support I was going to have I wanted to add at least a flamethrower – this led to the additional purchase of the pioneer box set.

Picture: German Grendiers launch an all out attack leaping out from the protection of their Hanomag.

The few games we had in 2019 suggest HE was more important than AT. Tanks seem to take a lot of attention, but their effectiveness varied. Therefore, it was important to load up with as many howitzers as possible. The starter army offered a Panzer IV (with howitzer) plus light artillery, both of which could lay down considerable amount of HE and pins. See next article at a look in the army in more detail.

So with various box sets purchases they then sat in the cupboard largely unopened, with the exception of the Panzer IV, until the spring of 2020. While the Cov-19 pandemic didn’t exactly give us additional time in our household – work still had to be done, chores completed, children cared for, meals prepared – indeed our evenings were largely unchanged, but some reason I focused a bit of time into painting and got engaged in painting the vast array of miniatures that I had accumulated over the years. Starting off with the trying to complete at least 1000 point army – it would be the first completed force for about 20 years.

Picture: Panzer IV Ausf D on the patrol

The colour scheme I used was relatively straightforward and based on the painting guide available from warlord games. After basing and priming with black undercoat, I initially applied a based cost of the key colours:

Uniform - German Field Grey WWII 830

Gas mask and helmet - Luftwaffe Cam. Green 823 

Bags and straps - German Cam Med brown 826 and Flat brown 984

Boots - Flat brown 984

Skin - Generally whatever flesh colour I had.
Weapons/drink contains and spades - Oily Steel 865

I also use off white (only white I had) for the details around the collar and shoulder patches and black areas whatever black I had - in this instance undercoat black (GW) or Abaddon black (GW) depending on which pot came to hand.

These were then treated to a watered-down wash and left to dry. I used dark tone wash from army painter (the only wash I had). The key colours were then reapplied leaving shading where appropriate in the recesses. Recently to get minis finished I have left it there in terms of highlighting, but in these early days I’d apply a further highlight with off-white mixed with the base colours used to highlight raised areas.

The bases were then dry brushed with off white. The rim of the base I painted XX green – a throwback to my Warhammer fantasy battle days – and then adding a flock to give the base a bit of character.

Another plus for picking the Early war Germans is that vehicles are very simple to paint as it was just bulk colour and no camouflage or airbrushing needed. The colours were as follows:

Metal/body work work - London grey 836

Tracks - Flat brown 984

As with the infantry I then applied a watered-down wash to the model before going over with the base coat – it was almost dry brushing the base coat on again. Using a bit of packing case sponge I was able to apply the ‘rusting effect’ – I would have liked to add a bit of chipping or war damage, but my skills are limited. By dipping the sponge in a little bit of paint (in this case Flat brown 984) then wipe most of it off to and then rub it over the areas of the model you’d like to apply the affect. Don’t over do it otherwise your miniature just becomes a mass of brown – less is more. Using this technique with a little more paint on the tracks and wheels to create a mud effect – there are a lot of you tube videos that will make a better job of demonstrating this.